Gunnery target



Dec. 13, 1949 FJLQFLEMING 2,490,793

GUNNERY TARGET Filed Oct. 25,1945 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. FLOYD L. FLEMING LLMM ATTORNEY De. 13, 1949 F MING 2,490,793

GUNNERY TARGET Filed Oct. 25, 1945 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. FLLOYD L. FLEMING MQAALM ATTORNEY Dec. 13, 1949 F. L. FLEMING 2,490,793

GUNNERY TARGET FiledOct. 25, 1945 3 Sheets-Sheet s INVENTOR.

FLOYD L. FLEMING ATTORNEY Patented Dec. 13, 1949 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 7 Claims.

(Granted under the act of March 3, 1883, as

amended April 30, 1928; 370 0. G. 757

The invention described herein may be manufactured and used by or for the Government for governmental purposes without the payment of any royalty thereon.

This invention concerns aerial gunnery targets and is embodied in a balloon-type target for aerial gunnery or anti-aircraft practice.

I-Ieretofore, most aerial gunnery practice has been conducted with sleeve targets attached to an airplane by tow cables, so that the sleeve will be drawn across the sky behind the plane. These targets are useful but have inherent limitations and disadvantages that the present invention overcomes.

The target disclosed in this specification has performance characteristics entirely different from those of a sleeve target, since the path of this target may be in an almost vertical downward direction, and will thus simulate the flight of a dive bomber or suicide plane in a much more realistic manner than is practicable with a sleeve.

It is, therefore, the general aim of the present invention to provide a novel and improved target adapted for anti-aircraft and aerial gunnery practice. More specifically, it is one of the principal objects of the invention to provide a free balloon-type target, compactly packaged and arranged to expand when launched, so that a large number of the targets can be'carried aboard any conventional type of aircraft. The targets are of such design and constructionthat they can be thrown from the aircraft individually or in groups and will automatically open to their full expanded size and drift slowly downwardly. A further object is a free balloon-type aerial target having flammable material incorporated into the target structure, so that the target will burst into flame if struck by a tracer bullet.

This feature provides an immediate indication of the effectiveness of the gunners marksmanship and lends realism to practice.

A further object resides in the provision of a Figure 3 is a view of the target of Figure 2 after it has been launched,

Figure 4 is a cross-sectional plan partly broken away, taken on line 44 of Figure 3,

Figure 5 is an elevation with parts broken away of the target of Figure 2, with its wrapping partially unwound,

Figure 6 is a perspective of the fitting at one end of the target balloon, and

Figure 7 is a perspective of the fitting at the opposite end.

The target balloon of the present invention comprises the envelope I6, and a supporting ments are riveted to the slats and surround the bearing portions of the end fittings to provide a hinged connection between these fittings and the individual ribs.

The outside covering of the balloon is formed of a fabric envelope It. This envelope can be constructed of various types of fabrics or other material, but highly satisfactory results are obtained by the use of an open mesh fabric such as cheesecloth. The envelope is shaped in a more or less spherical form and includes openings I! at the positions of the end fittings H and 12.

Each of the openings I1 is crossed by a pair of flexible rubber bands I8 secured to the fabric IS on opposite sides of the opening I I, so that when the balloon is collapsed for packaging the rubber bands stretch sufiiciently to prevent tearing the fabric of the envelope.

One of the objects of the invention is to provide a balloon-type target that may be carried and launched as a compact package, and will' thereafter automatically expand to full size and drift slowly toward the earth. To this end, the balloon target is provided with a mechanism operable to expand the target which, in the disclosed embodiment, comprises a heavy rubber band 2| extending between the lower end fitting l2 and upper end fitting H. In the preferred structure illustrated in the drawings the rubber band 2| includes a double strand of rubber with the opposite ends tied together at their lower end reenforcing. patches onjits four corners.

envelope 'l6-to its full dimensions.

by a cord 22. The lower end of each strand is also positioned in a V type slot 23 between the anchor wires 24, so that as the band is stretched the individual rubber strands work upwardly in the slot and wedge themselves in, so that the strain onv the. tied, joint between them is partly relieved. 5 I 1 The upper end of the rubber band 21 passes I through a loop of cord 21 having a knot 23 at its one end, and extending to include a leader 29;

which is operable to set the balloon expanding mechanism for operation by drawing the cord 29 destroyed, it can be picked up and used repeatedly.

One of the objects of this invention is the provision of an instant indication of a hit and that this is accomplished by providing a flammable substance in the balloon. This can be done in anyconventional manner, as" by forming the envelope 'IE of'highly flammable material or by providing flammable sheets inside of the envelope so that they will be ignited as a tracerr bullet passes'through the target. An-

out to stretch the rubber band 2| and secure it 1 in taut condition between the. end fittings I l and I2.. The fitting H has aV-shaped notch 30 formed between the wires 3|, the notch bein adapted to engage the knot 28 to secure. it

to the fitting H. The band 21 is stretchedi by 1 holding the balloon in collapsed condition with c the ribs IElextending straight between. the end fitings H and i2, and then, with the knot 28 positioned inand engaged by the notch30', pulling outwardly on the leader cord 29 to stretch the. rubber. band 21. The, balloon is maintained incolletpsedconditidn by a spiral paper wrapping 32. The target assemblyfincludes a pilot para chute. 33,, which may be made of a. square oi heavy paper with shroud. lines 34' attached to The shroud lines 3 extend to a parachute line '35 running. from. the. parachute to a reenforcing' patch. 36. on one end of the spiral wrapping, of

the package andthence'tothe reenforcing patch 3] at the opposite end of the wrapping and to the. balloon. The cord, 35 is permanently con-' nected. with. the. frame of the target balloon. in

other manner of rendering the balloon flammable is illustrated in Figure 5, which discloses a. paper envelope 41 secured to one of the ribs l0 and having arip' cord 42 extending from the envelope. .to the opposite rib. With this arrangement, the expansion of the balloon will drawthegc ord 42t'aut to rip the envelope ll and allow. highly'fl'ammable powder contained within theenvelope to be spilled into the interior of the ballo'on. The motion of the balloon in falling-and the passageof air through it distributes ,the powder-sufiiciently so that the balloon will be instantly ignited if hit by a tracer.

' The foregoing describes an---efiici'ent target" for anti-aircraft or aerial gunnery practice; these targets can be easily and cheaply constructed,

any conventional. manner. Conveniently thisi may be done by tying the cord. to. one, of the. end

fittings of. the'ballo on. Thus the linefrom the l parachuteforms a cord. reenforcement through.

the: lengthy of the. paper wrapping, and provides of" theseparts will .remainttogether after, the

balloon islaunched.

In preparing the target for use, theribs N1 of the balloon are collapsed by detachingi thev upper end of the rubber bandZ tirom the upper fitting l I. With thQI'ibS in collapsed. condition. the wrapping 32 is wound around the fabric envelope is of the balloon- The rubber band 2 l.

is. then stretched by pulling the leader 29 and engaging; the; knot 28, in wedgingrengagement with-theanchor wires 3!. The-parachute line. 3.5 is wound around: the'package asare' the shroud lines: of the: parachute; and the body portion:

of? the parachute is. loosely: folded around the: package. Thusthe entire assembly provides aa a. permanent. connection between. the. parachute; thewrapper; and thetarget balloon; so. that all' yet easy'to useand having: performance characteristics simulating the'vertical' or near-vertical: downward movementof a; dive-bombing plane. Moreover; the target" istsov constructed as: toshow' any hit instantly, to. add interest: topractice and toprovide; an easy andiefiicifent-means of scoring a gunners skill.

Although the specific structure-of the invention disclosed, in the drawingslismost satisfactoryfor most purposes, modifications can be made thereof without departing from the inventive concept, as defined in the following claims.

Having thusdescribed the invention, what I claim. asznew and desire to secure-by United States Letters Patent is-::

1:. As a target,a flexible envelope and a collapsiblesframe within theenvelope; the'frame includinga painofend fittings spaced apartrfrom eachother and a. plurality of long slender strips se-- curedzincircular relationshipon eachv of said fitlong and slender package; that can be easily;

carried in an airplane and manually launched by simply throwing the: entire package- ,into thee chute will aid-the pilot .in'spott ng the target. and also so that if the balloon is not hit and covering; the frame including a pair of fittings: spaced apart from each other and a plurality of tings and. comprising spring ribs arranged tolie in closely nested parallel positions when the frame. is collapsed. and to bend outwardly and cause their center portions. to. move apart when. the end fittings are moved toward each other,

so. that the several ribs coact to define a hollow form; means to expand, the frame including an elastic band extending between the opposite endfittin'gs'to urge: the ribs of the frame toward. expanded position; restraining means comprising an, exterior wrapperto securethe frame'in collapsed position against the influence of the aforementioned means to expand; and means responsive to ambient air currentsto remove theexterior wrapper.

2.- Asa target, a collapsible frame and a flexible long-slender strips secured on each of said fittings and comprising ribs arranged to lie in closely nested" parallel positions when the frame is collapsed and tomove apart when the fittings are moved toward each other; means toexpand the frame including an elast c band extending be- .tweenthe: opposite end fittings to urge the ribs ofthe frame toward:expanded-position; restrain- 1 ing means to secure the frame in collapsedv position against the influence of the aforementioned means to expand; and means to render the restraining means inoperative.

3. As a target adapted to be launched in the air, a collapsible frame including a plurality of long slender ribs arranged to lie in closely nested parallel positions when the frame is collapsed, and to move apart when the frame is expanded; means to expand the frame comprising instrumentalities to urge the ribs of the frame toward expanded position; restraining means to secure the frame in collapsed position against the influence of the aforementioned means to expand; and a parachute operable when the target is launched to render the restraining means inop erative.

4. As a target adapted to be launched in the air, a collapsible envelope, a parachute, and a confined flammable material attached to the envelope, together with means operable when the target is launched responsive to the action of the parachute in ambient air currents to expand the envelope, and means operable by expansion of the envelope to release the flammable material and scatter it onto the envelope.

5. As a target, a flexible envelope and a collapsible frame for the envelope, the frame comprising a pair of end fittings spaced apart and a plurality of flexible strips arranged in a circle and attached at their opposite ends respectively to the fittings, mechanism to expand the envelope operable to pull the fittings toward each other, means operable to hold the strips disposed parallel to each other, and means operable to release the holding means and thereby enabling the envelope expanding mechanism" to pull the fittings towards each other and expand the envelope.

6. As a target, a flexible envelope and a collapsible frame for the envelope, the frame comprising a pair of end fittings spaced apart and a plurality of flexible strips arranged in a circle and attached at their opposite ends respectively to the fittings, mechanism to expand the envelope operable to pull the fittings toward each other, means operable to hold the strips disposed parallel to each other, and means operable to release the holding means and thereby enabling the envelope expanding mechanism to pull the fittings toward each other and expand the envelope, a confined flammable material attached to the envelope, and means operable by expansion of the envelope to release the flammable material and scatter it onto the envelope.

7. As a target adapted to be launched in the air, a balloon comprising an envelope and a supporting frame therefor resiliently operable to hold the envelop expanded, a parachute and a cord connecting the parachute to the balloon, the cord being positionable wrapped around the balloon to hold it in collapsed condition opposed to the resiliency of its frame, the parachute being positionable exposed exteriorly of the wrappings of the cord in position for engagement by ambient air currents when the target is launched to unwrap the cord and enable the envelope to be expanded.

FLOYD L. FLEMING.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent;

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 207,357 Kuball Aug. 27, 1878 1,794,828 Bleriot Mar. 3, 1931 2,382,442 Rich et al. Aug. 14, 1945 

